Ten Minutes After Midnight
by SevenAgainstThebes
Summary: Hermione persaudes Snape to adopt a New Year's resolution. One-shot; is a bit fluffy


Title: Ten Minutes After Midnight  
  
Author: SevenAgainstThebes  
  
E-mail: SevenAgainst_Thebes@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: G   
  
Summer: Midnight has come and gone, it's a new year.   
  
Disclaimer: JKR owns all, I only get to borrow them for this exercise in creativity. Also, Ars Alchemica doesn't belong to me, I credit whomever created it.  
  
Author's note: Nice and fluffy. Be warned.   
  
***  
  
The Great Hall was packed.   
  
Cries of delight and well wishes were relayed back and forth within the teeming mass of students and guests who had gathered there to ring in the new year. Bottles of sparkling cider had been opened and were being passed around. Fred and George Weasley, always at the center of any celebration, were leading everyone in the singing of Auld Lang Syne. House bounderies that had divided Hogwarts for so long were now crossed without reservation as students embraced each other with no thought as to who belonged to which House. All were caught up in the joy that the dawning of a new year presented.   
  
And the dawning of this new year, only a few minutes old, was especially poignant in the face of the events that had taken place barely two weeks ago.   
  
Voldemort had been defeated.   
  
Much of British wizarding community had turned up for the New Year's celebration at Hogwarts; everyone happy and feeling joyously free of the one great terror that loomed over them for so long.   
  
Those who were not so caught up in the general merriment noted, with a twinge of sympathy, that Hermione Granger, Head Girl of Hogwarts, was still on patrol duty of the corridors. Their feelings of pity intensified when they noticed just who her partner on patrol happened to be.   
  
To even the most discerning of individuals, the Potions Master of Hogwarts appeared to have not changed at all over the years. The defeat of Voldemort, the disappearance of the Dark Mark and the granting of the Order of Merlin, First Class, did nothing to alleviate his apparent perpetual dark mood.   
  
Curious observers noted that the frown on Snape's face seemed to be more pronounced than usual as he and Hermione proceded down along the crowded corridor outside the Great Hall.   
  
A flock of second year Hufflepuffs scattered as Snape headed directly towards them.   
  
"Professor." Hermione laid a hand on his arm.   
  
"What." was Snape's curt reply as he pulled his arm away from her grasp.   
  
"Have you ever thought about making a New Year's resolution?" she asked.  
  
Snape sneered. "And why exactly would I do something as asinine as that?"   
  
"It's tradition."  
  
He shot her a withering glance and Hermione chose to ignore it. Even though the noise level was quite high, Hermione could hear the frantic whisper of "Oh god, Snape's coming this way."  
  
Snape swept past the frightened cluster of students, pausing only to smile malevolently at them. "Miss Granger, in all your years at Hogwarts, when have you ever witnessed any adherence to tradition on my part?"  
  
"Well, never, but maybe you could start?" Hermione watched his face for any reaction to her suggestion. Seeing none, she continued talking. "Professor, not to be rude or nosy but I've noticed that you're always...moody. Maybe your resolution could be to smile more-"  
  
Snape bared his teeth at her.   
  
"Okay," she backed away. "That wasn't what I meant but-"  
  
He cut her off for the second time. "Miss Granger, as interesting as this is, I have better things to do with my time."  
  
Hermione frowned. Snape opened a classroom door and walked in. Hermione followed him.  
  
"What are you doing?"   
  
"Searching for foolish students who decide to carry on their romantic trysts in rooms that are not their own."  
  
"I doubt students are hiding in here. They're all still celebrating in the hall." she smirked at the highly insulting graffiti on the chalkboard. "How about this? Your New Year's resolution could be to let things slide every so often."  
  
The door slammed shut behind her. Hermione whirled around to find Snape standing there with an amused glint in his eyes. He moved closer, walking with slow and deliberate steps, until they were face to face.   
  
"Haven't I already let things slide?" he murmured.  
  
She smiled; a slow hesitant smile that gradually spread over her features. "Mmm, you're right."  
  
He remembered that smile, remembered the time he had seen it last: the morning after the final battle with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Snape, revealed as being the traitor, had been the target of many vicious hexes and had been left for dead on the battlefield. At the end of the battle, Hermione had stumbled upon him, close to death, and had healed him, draining much of her magical power to do so. The next morning, he found her half-asleep in the chair she had set up next to his bed in the Infirmary. He had called her name and she had awoken, greeting him with that shy smile of hers.  
  
"Professor, I'm so glad you're okay." she had said, holding his hand. He was well enough to return to his rooms that day but over the next few nights, she appeared at the door to his chambers ("Madam Pomfrey said I needed to take these medicines to you." she'd said, upon greeting), ready with an excuse to prolong the visits. Her visits always ended up lasting until midnight. He found they had much to talk about and their discussions ranged from recent potions developments in the current issue of Ars Alchemica to personal issues and even to the most random of topics such as what happened to her buck-teeth.   
  
And now, in this moonlit classroom, Snape found that he wanted to thank her for what she had done for him. He tilted her chin up and bent down to brush his lips softly against hers. She didn't back away, didn't scream in horror, but only sighed; a wisp of a sound in the silent classroom, and he pulled back. "Happy New Year, Hermione, and thank you."  
  
She grinned cheekily at him. "Isn't it kind of late?" She checked her watch. "Midnight was about ten minutes ago."  
  
"I'm on a delayed time schedule here." he replied, shrugging.   
  
"I also thought you didn't adhere to traditions."   
  
"I'm letting things slide. My new year's resolution remember?" He felt her hand slip into his.  
  
"Right..."   
  
They walked hand-in-hand towards the classroom door. When they stepped outside, Snape released her hand and they continued on their patrol of the corridors. The familiar scowl was back on his face again. She nudged him in the side.   
  
"Glad to see you're getting into the spirit of things." Hermione whispered, smiling once again.  
  
He didn't reply, but the look on his face didn't seem quite as dreary as before.  
  
*******  
  
The end.  
  
Happy New Year, everyone!  
  
-SevenAgainstThebes 


End file.
